WASHINGTON — As his Washington Capitals teammates chased shutout king Peter Budaj, backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped all 38 shots he faced to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-0 on Sunday.
The Capitals snapped the Kings’ winning streak at five and Budaj’s shutout streak at 147:21. Washington has won three consecutive games and leads the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference by seven points.
Lars Eller, Marcus Johansson, Brett Connolly, T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams scored for the Capitals, who are also five points up on the Minnesota Wild in the Presidents’ Trophy race. Despite being outshot 38-20, they were opportunistic on offense and leaned on Grubauer to stymie the Kings on the way to his third shutout of the season.
Budaj, who leads the NHL with seven shutouts, was pulled after allowing four goals on 15 shots in two periods. He stopped all 39 he faced in his previous two starts.
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Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno .
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